Tuesday, April 27, 2004
ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS
The next morning we went through the necessary activity to pack, load our things on the bus and answer the roll call. Although there was a sense of eagerness and joviality after a few miles down the road most of us fell silent. We were all going home to different situations.
Some of the boys would be leaving for the service, some to help with the haying on the family farm, others would leave Cabool to find their fortunes in cities around the country. The girls would make it home in time to pick blackberries for canning and helping their mothers cook for haying crews. Some already had jobs, like me, and others were preparing to visit relatives in towns where work was more lucrative. There were a few who would be heading to college in August and then some who had no idea of what to do next.
I knew I would be back at Booker Drug full-time now. It would have been impossible for me to try college even with a job offer. Our nearest college was 80-miles away and with no transportation or bank account I didn’t even consider it. A few of the kids got married right away that summer after graduation but I was dating someone who would go to college in the fall. I was content with working because I enjoyed people and small town customers are the best. Familiar with most, they kept me laughing all through each shift.
Our drug store was the news center for good and bad occasions. Homes that burned, car accidents, babies born, jobs changed….marriages, divorces……..it was all right over the counter to me. People told me their troubles along with the good times. Since I was there 10-hours every day (except for my Sunday’s off) I was used much of the time for a dating service. I was asked to put in a good word for someone to “so and so” and see if they had a chance for a date with a special person. Of course that worked to my personal advantage as well. I dated more that summer because I no longer had to divide my time with school. That summer was one of the nicest to remember.
By fall dating came to a stop as college took most of the eligible guys away. I kept busy with female friends who were left behind as I was. An older man who had been dating a woman (who also left for college) began coming to the drug store after he got off work. He had been in the service and came back to Cabool after his military discharge. He worked at the local creamery, was always squeaky clean and wore nice clothes. He had a new Ford sedan and before long I began to expect him after work. His order was always the same. A bottle coke and a nickel package of Planters Peanuts. He would open the peanuts and pour them into the coke bottle. All the time he was drinking his mixture of coke and peanuts he would make small talk and later leave.
On Labor Day he asked me for a date to go to the movies. I accepted and we continued dating mostly because of the absence of our former choices. I guess you would say “dating on the rebound.” He was a good man, kind and reasonable. My boss, Verl, encouraged me to go with him because he was “solid” and since I knew Verl to be such a good person in his own right, his advice carried weight.
My own thinking was limiting my options. I was 17 ½ now and had worked long hours getting through school…the thoughts of working at the drug store and staying in a room somewhere stretched out before me. I longed for someone to love me and make a home for me…..I was emotionally starved for love.
In February he asked me to marry him and I accepted. He was 7 ½ years older than me and I appreciated his intelligence and good reasoning. We planned to marry on March 27th 1950. We chose a ring, a Keepsake Diamond (¼ ct) with a wedding ring to match. My picture and announcement was in the paper and two bridal showers followed.
My friend, Leola, whom I’ve recently written about was my room-mate at the time. The night before our wedding day I kept her awake all night muddling through the pros and cons of my marriage the next day. I felt I should have a special feeling for the man I was about to marry but all I really had was his good character and his calm manner. Dawn was breaking and my anxiety increased. Was I doing the right thing? Leola gave me no answers……..for the first time since leaving home I was unsure of my decision.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
Some of the boys would be leaving for the service, some to help with the haying on the family farm, others would leave Cabool to find their fortunes in cities around the country. The girls would make it home in time to pick blackberries for canning and helping their mothers cook for haying crews. Some already had jobs, like me, and others were preparing to visit relatives in towns where work was more lucrative. There were a few who would be heading to college in August and then some who had no idea of what to do next.
I knew I would be back at Booker Drug full-time now. It would have been impossible for me to try college even with a job offer. Our nearest college was 80-miles away and with no transportation or bank account I didn’t even consider it. A few of the kids got married right away that summer after graduation but I was dating someone who would go to college in the fall. I was content with working because I enjoyed people and small town customers are the best. Familiar with most, they kept me laughing all through each shift.
Our drug store was the news center for good and bad occasions. Homes that burned, car accidents, babies born, jobs changed….marriages, divorces……..it was all right over the counter to me. People told me their troubles along with the good times. Since I was there 10-hours every day (except for my Sunday’s off) I was used much of the time for a dating service. I was asked to put in a good word for someone to “so and so” and see if they had a chance for a date with a special person. Of course that worked to my personal advantage as well. I dated more that summer because I no longer had to divide my time with school. That summer was one of the nicest to remember.
By fall dating came to a stop as college took most of the eligible guys away. I kept busy with female friends who were left behind as I was. An older man who had been dating a woman (who also left for college) began coming to the drug store after he got off work. He had been in the service and came back to Cabool after his military discharge. He worked at the local creamery, was always squeaky clean and wore nice clothes. He had a new Ford sedan and before long I began to expect him after work. His order was always the same. A bottle coke and a nickel package of Planters Peanuts. He would open the peanuts and pour them into the coke bottle. All the time he was drinking his mixture of coke and peanuts he would make small talk and later leave.
On Labor Day he asked me for a date to go to the movies. I accepted and we continued dating mostly because of the absence of our former choices. I guess you would say “dating on the rebound.” He was a good man, kind and reasonable. My boss, Verl, encouraged me to go with him because he was “solid” and since I knew Verl to be such a good person in his own right, his advice carried weight.
My own thinking was limiting my options. I was 17 ½ now and had worked long hours getting through school…the thoughts of working at the drug store and staying in a room somewhere stretched out before me. I longed for someone to love me and make a home for me…..I was emotionally starved for love.
In February he asked me to marry him and I accepted. He was 7 ½ years older than me and I appreciated his intelligence and good reasoning. We planned to marry on March 27th 1950. We chose a ring, a Keepsake Diamond (¼ ct) with a wedding ring to match. My picture and announcement was in the paper and two bridal showers followed.
My friend, Leola, whom I’ve recently written about was my room-mate at the time. The night before our wedding day I kept her awake all night muddling through the pros and cons of my marriage the next day. I felt I should have a special feeling for the man I was about to marry but all I really had was his good character and his calm manner. Dawn was breaking and my anxiety increased. Was I doing the right thing? Leola gave me no answers……..for the first time since leaving home I was unsure of my decision.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
